How You Can Swim With Reef Sharks in Bimini, The Bahamas

Fifty miles east of South Florida lies Bimini, the westernmost chain of islands in the Bahamas. Its crystal-clear waters and abundant marine life have made it the sport fishing capital of the world; its waters teem with large populations of blue marlin, bonefish, tuna and amberjack.  

But it’s also the place where I found myself surrounded by some, er, other aquatic residents: Caribbean Reef and Blackness sharks, to be specific. 

I’ll be honest, I’m not a shark-lover. I’ve never seen “Jaws;” cage-diving sounds terrifying; and I’ve flipped the channel away from Discovery’s “Shark Week” more times than I can count. But when our dolphin swim shore excursion (aka a “Shore Thing”) was canceled during a recent Virgin Voyages’ four-night Fire and Sunset Soirees sailing onboard Scarlet Lady, I quickly skimmed the list of available excursions and signed up for the Reef Shark Safari + Sapona Adventure, hosted by Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center, a local Bimini-based operator. 

I did see the words “shark swim,” but also the promise of creature interaction in a “controlled comfortable environment.” 

How bad could it be?

As it turns out, the experience was one of the most thrilling things I have ever done. Before heading out to the area where the sharks live (dubbed “Shark Arena,” about a 30-minute boat ride from Virgin Voyages’ private Bimini Beach Club), the Neal Watson crew gave our group a safety demonstration, and we stopped for a 30-minute snorkel at the nearby Sapona shipwreck.

According to our boat captain, Alonzo, Sapona was a World War I-era ship that was used in the prohibition-era to store illegal rum. The ship was caught in a hurricane and found itself wrecked in 15 feet of water inside the Bermuda Triangle, just off the coast of Bimini, where it has remained since 1926.

We snorkeled around and inside the shipwreck (careful not to touch the walls of the vessel, where dangerous orange fire coral grows), marveling at the sting rays, sea turtles and schools of fish that call the ship home. We then toured the ship’s interior before heading back to the boat for some snacks and to fuel up for the next leg of the adventure.

At our next stop, I realized that “Shark Arena” is aptly named; upon anchoring our boat, The Trident, we immediately saw a school of several six- to nine-foot-long reef sharks circling the vessel (almost as if they knew their lunch were waiting just onboard). 

However, we were assured that these sharks have been conditioned to be around humans, and Neal Watson has never had a shark-related accident. We were instructed to keep splashing to a minimum; remain in our fins at all times; and to keep our hands and fingers close to our chest while in the water.

Another rule – and perhaps the most important one — a shark can touch you (and man, do they come close), but a human should never reach out and touch a shark.

We suited up in lifejackets and jumped into the warm Caribbean Sea. For those of us who were feeling a bit more timid (like me), a yellow rope was placed in the water for us to hold onto, so we could simply put our masked faces into the water and observe the scene around us. Others were a bit bolder, diving down into the water and swimming alongside the sharks.

But the true spectacle came once we were all back onboard. After each dive, the sharks are rewarded with a “feeding frenzy” — Neal Watson’s crew throws fish and chum overboard as a “thank you” for their good behavior.

And as a reward for our good behavior, we sipped homemade rum punch during a leisurely sunset cruise back home to port. 

The Details
Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center

Virgin Voyages